A mob on Thursday vandalised and set fire to Jatiya Party’s central office in Dhaka. Jatiya Party is a coalition of Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The office was partly damaged and derogatory slogans were written on the walls of the office. People wrote ‘Public Toilet’ and blurred the posters of leaders put up on wall.

The Jatiya Party, founded by late Bangladesh President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, was a part of the Bangladesh Awami League-led Grand Alliance, and participated in previous three general elections despite the boycott of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Protesters in Bangladesh were angered by the Jatiya Party’s decision to hold rally in Dhaka on Saturday. Reportedly, these protesters are against Sheikh Hasina. The clashes erupted after protesters carried the Chhatra Sramik Janata banner and marched with a torch procession in front of the Jatiya Party’s central office in Kakrail area.

The protesters set fire on office and vandalized it, they pulled down the signboard and smeared ink on party founder and formerBangladesh President Hussain Muhammad Ershad’s picture painted on wall. The fire services rushed to the spot and extinguished fire. Following the incident, Bangladesh police and Army were deployed In front of the Jatiya Party office.

#WATCH | Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s coalition, Jatiya Party's central office in Dhaka vandalised and set on fire. pic.twitter.com/nUWQtYkclm

— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2024

What Did The Protesters Say?

ANI quoted Shakiluzzaman, leader of Gono Audhikar Parishad who alleged that people of Jatiya Party threw bricks at their procession. “We were passing in front of the Jatiya Party office with a torch procession. At that time, terrorists of Jatiya Party threw bricks at our procession from the roof of Jatiya Party office, added Shakiluzzaman. He further added that “Jatiya Party terrorists themselves set fire to their office and escaped. Jatiya Party acted as a proxy of the fascist Awami League in the 2014, 2018 and 2024 elections.”

He stressed that the students, workers and citizens have declared that they will not allow Jatiya Party to hold any rally in the city. Notably, Gono Audhikar Parishad is a political party who largely participated in the movement against Sheikh Hasina.

However, no official statement has been released by the Jatiya Party on the incident.

Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024 after a student-led movement ousted her two months ago. The protests and clashes turned had killed over 600 people. Following Hasina’s flee, interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was formed in Bangladesh.

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